Monday, July 6 - Folk Art Museum and Market

After all the rain yesterday, it was a little cooler today.  We met the other family and a new guide, Helen, at 9:30 and went to a folk art museum that was really neat.  It had a lot of different types of carvings and sculptures, along with displays of how different rooms would be furnished in the old days.  We didn't see all the exhibits, but it was interesting and the kids did really well.  TongJie was actually interested in pretty much all the displays that we looked at.  It was set up all around a huge courtyard so it had the feeling of being in the open air, and probably wouldn't have been very fun if it had been much hotter.  So it was definitely nice that it was cooler today.  After the museum, we went to a jade and pearl market.  That was not so fun, mostly because it was getting to be lunch time and Ezekiel was fussy and it was pretty much just a mall of a whole bunch of different jewelry shops all crammed together with really expensive and boring stuff.  The other family has two daughters and they wanted to get a pearl necklace for each girl, so Helen took us to a shop that has genuine pearls and pretty good prices I guess.  Our family waited outside the shop, but there were rows and rows of other shops that looked just like it.  Jeff says he hopes he never has to go into a place like that again, ha ha!  Then we went upstairs to a jade shop that Helen took us to, and we bought a little jade horse pendant for Ezekiel.  When we were here in 2012, we bought a little jade tiger statue for TongJie, so now they each have a jade likeness of their zodiac animal.  Ezekiel fell asleep in the van on the way back to the hotel and Jeff was able to carry him out of the van and all the way up to our room and get him into his crib without him waking up.  The rest of us ate lunch and then I put TongJie down for a nap too, so now both kids are snoozing in the bedroom.

This evening, we are planning to meet up with the other family and try the Mexican restaurant that's near our hotel called Tekila.  It should be interesting to see what Chinese Mexican food is like!  Tomorrow morning is our visa appointment at the consulate.  Getting closer to coming home!

Two of the photos are of the museum today.  One is TongJie with some carrot and fruit juice that we tried and he really liked, and one is of Ezekiel's visa photo.  Poor kid - that's the picture that will be on his citizenship certificate.

Sunday, July 5 - Document checklist

Ezekiel didn't sleep very well last night so we were all a little tired this morning, and he was especially grumpy.  It was raining hard all morning.  At 10:00 Jeff took the kids to the playroom and I met with Elsie and Charles (the dad from the other family) to go over our documents.  Before we left for China, we had a phone call with our case worker from Wacap to make sure we had packed all the correct documents - we went over each and every paper to make sure we had it, and I've been carrying it with me ever since, unless it has been in our locked safe box here in our hotel room.  Since we've gotten to China, we've picked up a few other important documents that we need (adoption registration, certificate of abandonment, birth certificate, passport, etc.), so the purpose of today's meeting was to make sure we have all the correct things, and all in the right order for when we go to the consulate to apply for Ezekiel's visa on Tuesday.  So now everything is all ready to go, and back in our safe box.  It only took about 30 minutes to go over everything, and at 11:00 Elsie took Jeff and TongJie on the subway to a nearby bookstore.  Those of you who know Jeff can imagine how excited he was about that!  It sounds like they had a great time, and came back with a stack of Chinese books that they had gotten for the equivalent of about $16 or $17.  TongJie got two Thomas books that teach how to write some Chinese characters, plus a Big Hero 6 story book (he watched that movie on the plane coming to China and didn't understand most of it but thought it was SO cool) and a Pleasant Goat comic book.  Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf is a Chinese children's cartoon that is hugely popular here - you see it everywhere: on products in the store, on shirts, advertisements, kids' bike seats, etc.  Plus, TongJie watched it a couple times on TV when we were in Jinan, so he thinks he knows all about Pleasant Goat even though none of us understood a word they were saying!  Jeff also got a few comic books.  They were pretty excited about their loot when they got back to the room, and I've "read" the Big Hero 6 story book to TongJie about five times already.

While they were gone, I just hung out with Ezekiel in the room.  He's getting tired of being here in our room, but he doesn't really like to go other places either.  I think it will be a lot easier when we get home and he'll have more space to crawl (and soon walk) around, and more stuff for him to do.  He's not the easiest baby to please, but he's really been doing pretty well.  He is starting to like eating the Gerber Puffs a lot, and he's been saying "buh!" when he wants them.  We're not sure if he's trying to say "more" or if he's trying to say "puff" because he's heard us call them puffs.  He's so funny though, because he hasn't figured out how to put them into his own mouth yet, so we have to put them in his mouth.  We've tried setting a few out on the table or in a bowl for him, but he still can't figure it out.  So he takes one of our hands and makes it pick up a puff and then moves it to his mouth to try to make us feed him.  We're going to be running out of the Puffs soon, so we were trying to find something here that we could buy that would be similar.  We don't want him to choke because he's really not used to chewing yet, so it has to be something that kind of dissolves in the mouth by just sucking.  We remembered when we were here before, Sarah showed us some Chinese cracker type things that are similar to those Baby Mum Mums that TongJie loved so much.  We called them Chinese Mum Mums, and we bought a few packages to take home last time and TongJie ate them for snacks for months after we were home.  So, yesterday we bought a package to try (and yes, TongJie still loves them!) and they seem to be working for Ezekiel as long as we break them up into small pieces since he can't figure out how to bite yet.  I put him down for an early nap this afternoon since he missed his morning catnap and hadn't slept well.  He was asleep shortly after noon and it's almost 3:30 and he's still sleeping.  The rest of us ate lunch and now Jeff and TongJie are napping too.  It's pretty exciting around here!  

We're looking forward to coming home soon.  It will be nice to be able to be in our own home and not have everything be constantly damp.  Even the sheets feel wet and clammy when we climb into bed at night, and nothing is ever really dry.  It will also be nice to prepare and eat our own food again.  Both me and Jeff are craving fresh vegetables!  We've been told not to eat anything here that can't be peeled, unless it's cooked.  So we haven't been able to have salads or any raw vegetables.  We've been eating steamed vegetables every morning at breakfast, and TongJie eats at least a few pieces too, but mushy broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus start to get old after awhile.  They have a delicious looking salad bar every day at breakfast, but it's all lettuce and raw vegetables and we don't want to risk getting sick.  It will also be nice to be home where we can speak the same language as everyone, and go places without getting constantly stared at.  People come up to us to touch Ezekiel's hair, and several times we've seen people openly taking pictures of us, and they're always staring and talking about us - I think it's mostly about Ezekiel and his beautiful American hair.  The Chinese people don't believe he's Chinese, and I'm sure that most of the people here think that he is our biological child and that we are adopting TongJie.  A Chinese lady on the elevator argued with Jeff about Ezekiel being Chinese.  It was funny, he was speaking a little bit of Chinese and she was speaking a little bit of English, she was pointing to TongJie and saying "Chinese," and Jeff pointed to both of them and said "Chinese."  The lady said "no, no, no!" and pointed to Ezekiel "No Chinese!"  Jeff: "Yes, Chinese.  From Liaocheng."  She just kept saying "no" and scolding us like she thought we were either really stupid, or lying.  It was funny.  

A couple days ago, we were at a little clothing shop looking at tee shirts for the boys and Ezekiel was in the front pack with Jeff and TongJie was with me.  TongJie had already helped me pick out a shirt for him and for Ezekiel, but Jeff was still looking around, so TongJie was looking through the shirts too just like all the other people in there were (all the other people were Chinese women, so we totally stuck out as different) and the owner of the shop came up and started yelling at him in Chinese and grabbed the shirt out of his hand (not the one we were planning on buying) and hung it back up with a disgusted sigh.  I guess kids aren't supposed to look at the clothes in there or something, but I have no idea what she said.  Maybe she thought he was going to steal it.  So I took TongJie outside to wait so he wouldn't get yelled at anymore, and he sat down at the edge of the sidewalk and was driving his little matchbox car and completely minding his own business when a different lady walked by and went out of her way to step on his fingers, saying something to him in Chinese (I assume she was trying to teach him a lesson for playing in the sidewalk).  As she walked away, she was looking over her shoulder and glaring at him.   Poor TongJie, that ended up not being a good evening for him.  I felt bad because I was the one letting him play with his car on the sidewalk, but he really wasn't in the way, he was way over on the edge next to a  tree.  It's not like I would have let him be in the middle of where everybody was walking or anything.  Anyway, that is by far the worst thing that has happened to TongJIe (well, maybe besides getting a brother, ha ha) since we've been here.  Generally, all the interactions with people have been very pleasant at playgrounds and stores and everywhere.  TongJie has been doing a great job of jumping right in and playing with the other kids on the playgrounds even though he doesn't speak the language.  Even the people that are staring at Ezekiel are not being mean, that's just part of their culture.  That one day just wasn't very fun when the two different ladies got mad at him and the one stepped on his fingers.

The picture on here of me and Jeff is one that TongJie took of us last night.  Then there's one of Jeff and Ezekiel at breakfast, and a couple that I took of Ezekiel in our hotel room.  He's a cute little kid!

Saturday, July 4 - Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day, everybody!  TongJie wore his USA shirt today to celebrate.  Also we let him have a donut at the breakfast buffet :)  There are people from all over the world here at the Garden Hotel, it's a very diverse place.  We've sort of made friends with a German guy who works here named Martin.  He is an intern at the Garden Hotel and he greets people and holds the door so we see him whenever we pass through the lobby.  He always asks TongJie to help him hold the door and of course TongJie loves that!  He saw TongJie in his USA shirt this morning and said "USA?  Oh yes, today is your special day."  Jeff took a picture of me with TongJie and Ezekiel in the garden after breakfast.  Never mind that Ezekiel is crying.  He was kind of grumpy this morning and was just starting to fall asleep for a morning nap when it was time for us to meet downstairs to go to a park.  So we decided that Jeff would stay in the room with Ezekiel (he wouldn't have had fun at a park anyway) and I would go with TongJie.  When we got down to the lobby, we met Elsie and she told us that the other family decided not to go because yesterday they were afraid their daughter was getting too overheated and they're worried about her getting dehydrated.  So it was just Elsie, TongJie, and me who went.  We went to a new park that had a new playground for kids and also a large number of fitness machines for adults.  It was a really neat park!  There weren't many people using the exercise machines probably because it was so hot.  Most people probably go earlier in the morning or later in the evening.  TongJie enjoyed checking out the exercise equipment.  You can see in the photo how the kids' playground is right next to the exercise park.  Elsie showed us around the park a little more after TongJie was done playing, so we walked around quite a bit.  TongJie has been a great sport with walking around in all this heat.  I even forgot to pack a snack for him this morning and he still did a good job.  When we got back to our room, we got some lunch ready.  We brought a lot of packaged meals from home so we could save money by eating in our hotel.  We're starting to get a little sick of them by now, but TongJie is still enjoying the rice (I'm glad we only have one more package of it!) - he even decided to take a picture of his rice today.  I guess he's seen us taking pictures of some of our food so he wanted to do it too.

Yesterday evening we were going to try a different noodle place that Sarah told us about.  When we got there, we realized it was more of a fancier sit-down restaurant and we decided not to stay because Ezekiel isn't very easy to have in restaurants and we were worried we'd get partway into ordering and he'd become a huge annoyance to everyone there.  So we ended up going to McDonalds!  It tasted just like our McDonald's at home.  We were able to sit outside and we let Ezekiel crawl around and it ended up being much more enjoyable for all involved I'm sure.  We walked around for awhile afterwards until it was getting dark.

Right now, both of the boys are napping.  We'll probably go swimming again after they get up - it seems to be a good way to get some exercise and pass the time.  Tomorrow is the day we go over all our paperwork with the guides in preparation for the consulate appointment next week.  They only need one parent, so I'll probably be the one to go over the paperwork since I've kind of been the one keeping track of it.  We got Ezekiel's passport today (yay!) and I promptly put it in the safe box here in our room along with all the other paperwork, so everything should be ready to go.

July 3 - A few more pictures

A few more pictures: Jeff and Ezekiel at dinner the other evening, TongJie walking with Elsie, another shot of TongJie on the train ride from the park, and working on a puzzle in our hotel room.

Friday, July 3 - Another fun park

We went with Elsie and the other family to a park this morning.  It was another really neat park and would have been fun to spend more time there.  There was a little amusement park and we let TongJie choose a ride to go on, and of course he found a train ride!  He really wanted to sit up front and "drive" the train, so he patiently waited an extra turn before going in so he could be first in line to get the spot he wanted.  After that, we went to the playground area.  It was an awesome playground!  It would be fun to go there early in the morning or later in the evening when the weather isn't so hot, but it's not within walking distance from hour hotel so we probably won't be going back.  It was still fun anyway, even in the hot weather!  There were some fun and interesting pieces of equipment, such as a merry go round that simply had chairs bolted to a platform, and one with bicycle seats and pedals that you actually had to pedal to make it go around.  We left the park around 11:45 and came back to our room to cool off, have some lunch, and take naps.  We plan to go swimming this afternoon.  Tomorrow morning we'll be going on another outing with the other family and one of the guides.  Elsie asked us what we wanted to do, and we all thought anything that would be fun for the older kids (TongJie and Francis, the other family's eight year old daughter) - it's nice that the guides are really doing a good job of finding things that the kids like to do.  Last time we were here, we did some sightseeing that was interesting to me and Jeff, but not something that younger kids would find interesting at all.  For the most part, TongJie has been having a really great time here and he's still getting to experience a lot of the Chinese culture.  Ezekiel is too young to remember it anyway, so we're just trying to work on bonding with him and keeping him fed and happy.

Elsie said that Ezekiel's passport is finished and is on its way via express mail to Guangzhou, so we should get it in the next couple of days.  That's very good news to hear since sometimes there can be hang-ups with getting the passports, and we need to have his passport in order to have our visa appointment at the consulate next week.  So . . . so far, so good.

Thursday, July 2 - Medical exam

We had Ezekiel's medical exam and visa photo this morning.  We went in the van with Sarah and the other Wacap family that we just met today.  Their new little girl is 19 months old and very, very sweet and quiet.  They also have another daughter with them who is 8 and also very sweet.  They seem like a really nice family, so we're looking forward to getting to have another family to spend some time with over the next several days.  Their consulate appointment is July 8, the day after ours.  When we got to the building where we did the exam, the first thing we did was take the visa photos of the children downstairs.  It was another bad experience for Ezekiel.  Getting photos taken is not his thing.  They didn't care as much if he was crying for this one, so unlike the passport photo, we were able to get an acceptable one after only 4 or 5 tries.  And sure enough, in the photo he's definitely crying.  When we get a copy of the photo I'll have to post it on the blog because it's kind of funny (and sad).  Then it was the medical exam.  I remember the last time we did it when we adopted TongJie, the medical exam was on a Saturday so the clinic was really crowded, and our group had a lot more families, so we had to wait longer for everyone to have their turn.  Plus, the older kids take longer because they have to get the TB test as well, which we didn't have to do today, thank goodness, because it's only for kids over 2 years old.  So it really wasn't bad today.  Ezekiel didn't appreciate being weighed, measured, and examined, but as soon as it was over, he cheered up right away.  There was a doctor there who was not one of the doctors examining Ezekiel, but he stopped Sarah in the hallway and asked her something.  Later, she told me that he recognized TongJie and was asking her if TongJie had been there a few years ago.  I think he must have been one of the doctors who examined TongJie that day.  I was amazed that he would remember him!  Sarah didn't seem to be as amazed as I was, she said "well, he does have a very memorable face."  We thought that was pretty neat that a doctor would recognize him from one examination three years ago!

The other day, we checked out the playroom that's here in our hotel.  It was a nice quiet room with lots of toys for the kids to play with.  TongJie was excited that there was a little play house castle in there and he was pretending it was his house.  Ezekiel liked to be able to crawl around and bat toys around on the floor, which seems to be his favorite thing.  There were no other kids there, so we turned the lights off and it was still plenty bright with natural light from the window.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Trust Mart again for formula and some other things, and we decided to buy an umbrella.  A lot of the people here use umbrellas for the sun, and we thought it would be easier to use for Ezekiel than trying to fight him with the hat every single time we go in the sun. So far it's working a lot better, but we've only used it once.  It was hard for Jeff to hold both the umbrella and Ezekiel, but it will work pretty good with him in the front pack I think.  Eventually he's going to have to get used to wearing a hat, but the poor kid is having to deal with so much that's strange and uncomfortable right now, we might as well wait till we start getting settled in at home if we can help it.

Wednesday, July 1 - The Amazing Indoor Playground

Sarah called us in our hotel room yesterday afternoon to see how we were doing and if we needed anything and she asked if we'd like to do anything this morning because she was free and would have use of a van since all the other families have already left or are getting ready to leave.  I said, "sure!" because we figured anything would give us something to do and get us out of the hotel for awhile.  She asked if we wanted to try to find a playground or something for TongJie, and if we wanted one that was indoors, so that sounded even better.  So, this morning we met her at 9:30 in the hotel lobby and we went in a van to a mall here in Guangzhou that has an amazing kids' area.  It was like a kid's dream come true, especially for TongJie, who has been kind of cooped up in hotels for the past week or so.  There were big huge slides, trampolines, a ball area where you could shoot foam balls out of cannons, lots of climbing structures, and just all sorts of cool stuff.  TongJie loved it!  Ezekiel was not fond of the bright lights and loud noises, and he didn't really want to get down and try to walk, so me and Jeff took turns holding him in an area that was not as bright.  He did enjoy bouncing on the trampoline a little bit in our arms, so we did that with him when there weren't other kids on the trampoline.  It was a very fun morning!

We got back to our hotel room around noon and had oatmeal for lunch and I put Ezekiel down for a nap.  It's nice that our hotel room has a living area and then a bedroom and bathroom that can be closed off with a door.  That makes it nice for when Ezekiel is sleeping and the rest of us want to be up doing stuff.  He's a pretty sound sleeper too, which is also nice.  TongJie and Jeff were going to go do something, but TongJie fell asleep on the floor in the living room.  He must be worn out from all that playing and climbing this morning!

There is another family that is here now that we haven't met yet.  They have their consulate appointment next week like we do, so we'll get to spend time with them.  We will meet them tomorrow.  They are here in Guangzhou already because their child is from this province (Guangdong Province) so they will be here the whole time, instead of spending the first part of their stay in another city like we did in Jinan.  We were originally scheduled to have Ezekiel's medical exam on Saturday, but Sarah said we can just go ahead and do it tomorrow since the clinic won't be as busy on a Thursday and the other family will be ready tomorrow so we can all go together.

After the boys wake up, we're going back to the Trust Mart because we need more baby formula.  We're going through it faster than I expected, since that's all Ezekiel is eating (well, with rice cereal mixed in).  We'll probably go swimming again too, and then find something to eat for dinner.  Eating at restaurants is starting to get old, but so is eating soup and oatmeal in our hotel room.  It will be nice to be able to prepare and cook our own meals when we get home.  We went to that same noodle place again last night and I just got one vegetable roll, Jeff got the same thing, and we got a different kind of noodle soup for TongJie.  It was about $5 in US money, and it was a lot of food.  We can't get a meal for all of us for $5 at home, even at a restaurant like McDonald's, and this food was way better than McDonald's.  So, even eating at restaurants isn't that bad I guess.

We have nine more days here after today, so we're over halfway done!  I thought I'd be feeling a lot more stressed and anxious to get home by this point, but so far it's going pretty well.  We'll see how we're feeling after a few more days though, ha ha.  Having been here before has really helped us this time around.  We know more of what to expect in China and with the adoption process, plus this time around we're not brand new parents.  Having TongJie with us is making it a lot easier too in many ways, and definitely a lot more fun!  I can't imagine how anxious I'd be feeling right now if we had had to leave him at home.